A battery charger circuit associated with a portable electronic device is disclosed. The battery charger circuit comprises a charging circuit configured to charge a battery and a discharging circuit configured to discharge the battery. The battery charger circuit further comprises a battery fault detection circuit configured to detect a battery fault condition, based on monitoring one or more battery parameters. In some aspects, the battery charger circuit further comprises a battery charge control circuit configured to selectively activate the discharging circuit, in order to discharge the battery, and deactivate the charging circuit, in order to suspend charging the battery during the discharge of the battery, when the battery fault condition is detected.